When I started this thread, I thought one of the suggestions as to the difference between "extra fine" and "finest" would be the size of the scrolls and the number of their leaves. My assumption was that all AH and BH barrels were 6 blade, although now doesn't seem to be the case since there appears to be AHs out there with 4 blade.
On 6 blade barrels, there appears to be a different number of leaves in the scrolls on some barrels vs. others. On mine, it appears some scrolls have 8 leaves and at least one has 12. Of course, the size of the scrolls will vary by virtue of the production process but in some cases they seem to be much smaller and tighter-even on 6 blade barrels.
I thought maybe the difference between "extra fine" and "finest" was the number of leaves and the size and tightness of the scrolls. Bruce's observations are keen because one of my AHs has scrolls with 12 leaves and are so small and tight that the barrel does look gray from a conversational distance. Not what we expect to see but very elegant and sophisticated. Today it seems we all like to see bold patterns but back then everything looked that way so I thought when the scrolls were tight and fine that separated them from the everyday and made them the "finest".
I am surprised to see that this possibility is not discussed and goes to show you I think way to much about it! But, heck, it keeps me out of trouble!
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